cyber security Articles

Bloomberg sources report today that NSA security agency knew and exploited the vulnerability known as the “Heartbleed Bug” for at least 2 years. The move was apparently not to spy on citizens. It’s being said that the NSA have used the Heartbleed vulnerability to find passwords regularly on targets, and gather sensitive information.

What makes it such an issue for the majority of users of major websites is the backdoor is kept open. Criminal groups and hackers, identity and financial thieves and the spy agencies of other governments could have easily used the same tactic.

For the second time in a row, U.S. House of Representatives passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act(CISPA). Even if Obama threaten to veto CISPA because it could break civil liberties , the legislation passed it with 288-127.

According to TheVerge, Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) said that “our nation is under attack” while Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) went beyond imagination and compared made a connection with Boston Marathon bombings: “In the case of Boston they were real bombs, in this case they’re digital bombs. And these digital bombs are on their way.” How sick is that!

A new proposal has been presented to the United States House of Representatives that is being considered as a way to help prevent cyber threats in the future. The proposal states that a semi-independent company would be established that would let the United States government and private companies share the information they have regarding cyber threats.

This proposal is for NISO (National Information Sharing Organization), and was proposed by the California Representative Dan Lungren. This semi-independent company would serve as a focal point for all information (both collection and distribution) on cyber threats for all levels of government and all businesses. On top of being a highway for information, this nonprofit organization would also be used to increase cyber security through research.